


Every Path.

by opkil



Category: Original Work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-01
Updated: 2015-11-02
Packaged: 2018-04-29 08:12:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,352
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5121236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/opkil/pseuds/opkil





	1. The Old Man.

Lionel sighed, as he wrote on paper and pen. He looked out the window, and observed the event managers and their cronies arranged the lawn around. He could see the marquees being set up; one for the catering staff and the various chefs; another for the event itself. It all seemed in order, the only thing that really has been in the past 48 hours.

Between his mother constantly forgetting to eat(or so she claimed), his younger sister being jumpy and his younger brother just punching his fist against each and every surface he could whenever they talked, Lionel wondered how he managed to keep it all together.

His iPod played on his stereo, and he laid back against his chair. He swiveled his desk chair back to face the desk, and propped his feet on his desk. 

Lionel never pictured having to write an eulogy for his father. 

He stared at the picture of his family. Charles Lim looked spry in this family picture, taken right after a family basketball session. He didn't deserve a death as sudden as it was. Lionel felt tears at his eyes, and he let them roll down his cheek freely. The computer at his desk pinged with another hundred emails--instead of being work emails about the company as per usual, now replaced with condolence emails.

The knock on the door woke Lionel from his thoughts.

"Come in," he said, noticing the dryness of his throat.

The door opened, and Theodore peeked his head in. Ted was the middle son of the Lims, and one of Lionel's closest confidantes.

" _Kor_ , Uncle Rohsu is here."

"To offer his own personal condolence?" asked Lionel. Yet, if that were the case, it could have waited. 

"No, this has to do with pa's will. Uncle Rohsu insisted that the meeting had to take place before the funeral proceedings."

Lionel was puzzled, but he nodded. He stood up and put on his suit's jacket, and he stepped out of the room with Theodore.

"How're ya doing,  _xiao di_?" Lionel asked, as they walked toward the drawing room of the mansion.

Theodore took out a cigarette packet from inside his suit's jacket. He then peeled the packaging open, and placed a stick into his mouth, before offering a stick to Lionel. 

Lionel accepted, and placed one in his mouth, and let Theodore light it.

Ted took a drag of his cigarette, before saying anything.

"Terrible. I feel like I might let Dad down with this new venture."

"How could Dad be ever disappointed in you? You improved the hoverboards  _again_ with the collab with Apple!"

"'Cause...this time it's something big."

Leo pat Ted on the back, as they reached the door of the drawing room. Ted took out a contraption from his jacket. 

"What's that...?" Leo asked.

"Observe: Put your cig into this hole."

Theodore passed the cylinder-like contraption to Lionel. It felt warm to the touch, and light as well. Lionel followed instruction and put the cigarette butt into the hole at the top.

A small mechanical arm popped up from the top, and spritzed him with perfume, before withdrawing again into the can.

"That's some cool tech, bro."

Theodore smiled, before he put his serious face back on. They opened the door, and saw Rohsu Lee, his son Connor Lee; Claire Lim, their mother, and Annabelle Lim, their youngest sister.

Rohsu was dressed in an old suit, with a rather stern expression on his face. Connor was a seedy looking young man of twenty, and Rohsu's only son, dressed in a simple shirt and trousers.

Claire was in mourning dress, her face tinged and marked by fatigue. Annabelle, was in a similar dress, beside Claire.

"Gentlemen, it is nice of you to join us," said Rohsu, his voice tinged with a bit of disdain.

He put his walking stick down beside the couch, and Connor opened a briefcase on the coffee table in front of his Dad.

Lionel and Theodore took their seats in the couch opposite from the old man.

"Now, I'm sorry I have to drop the sentimentality in this meeting, everyone. Charlie was an old friend of mine, and I intend to honour his memory by performing my job as well as I have in the past three decades."

Rohsu's eyes lingered on Lionel for a moment, before he carried on.

Connor passed a small stack of papers to his father.

"Alright, the last will and testament of Charles Ignatius Lim.

"I, Charlie Ignatius Lim, of sound mind, declare that this is my last will and testament. I hereby revoke, annul, and cancel all previous iterations of this will.

"Firstly, about the massive fortune that is the Lim Pei's Hoverboards company. I declare that my second son, Theodore Edward Lim to be Chief Executive Officer, in the hopes that he would bring prosperity and innovation with every upcoming year. With that, I give a twenty percent share of my estate to him, in the hopes that he will continue to grow as the genius that he is.

However, the twenty percent of shall only be given to him fully when he gets his Doctorate Degree in whatever. Seriously, Teddy. Get your Doctorate, or you only get half of what was bequeathed upon you."

Theodore started laughing, before realising that everyone else in the room was still silent.

"That sounded exactly like what Dad would say," he said meekly.

Rohsu coughed to clear his throat, giving a small nod and smile to Ted, before continuing.

"To Annabelle Edna Lim, my youngest and only daughter, I declare her to be head of the Publications, Public Relations and Social Awareness subsidiary wing of Lim Pei's Hoverboards. In the hope that she leads the company and fights for the justice of other people on this beautiful planet, like she has with the poor in Nigeria.

To her, I give a twenty percent share of the estate to her. Don't spend it all in one place, sweetie. I'm being serious."

Annabelle smiled, understanding what Ted meant. She held Ted's hand tightly, before gesturing to Rohsu to continue.

"To Claire Lee-Lim, my beautiful wife. I will always miss you, and I first want to apologise for leaving you first.

Another twenty percent goes to you, for your retirement and comfortable living. I only hope that it's enough. Thank you for the wonderful (insert number here) years of marriage.

I give Claire free rein within the company to ensure that our children don't make rash decisions. Kids, listen to your mother."

With that, Rohsu replaced the paper into the briefcase.

"Wait, Uncle Rohsu, what about  _kor_?" Theodore asked pointedly.

"No, what about the remaining forty percent?" Annabelle asked.

"The instructions of the will are to only divulge Lionel's role in it in two years from today." Rohsu said curtly.

There was a silence in the room, before Claire broke it.

"Thank you for your presence today, Rohsu."

Rohsu nodded, as he handed Connor his briefcase. Rohsu took hold of his walking stick, and went to Lionel.

"Your father has not forgotten you, Leo. I promise you that much. I'm sorry I can't tell you more about what he had left you."

He then hugged Lionel, like he used to when they were younger. Lionel hugged the old man back.

A weird serenity was in her voice. She ushered Rohsu and Connor out of the drawing room.

Annabelle and Theodore looked at each other, and then at Lionel.

"I'll be out with you in a bit," Lionel said quietly. 

The siblings nodded. Theodore left the contraption he had showed Leo earlier on the table.

Lionel sat alone in the drawing room, and lit up another cigarette.

He stared at the family picture on the wall for a long time.


	2. (Read this first)

 Dear Lionel,

If you receive this cache of letters, it means that it's been about two years since I died. Hopefully, I died relatively painlessly, or at least die in a nice blaze. You know how morbid I am with these things. 

And I just realised I told my god son that I wish to die in a rather awesome fashion. Thank the Gods above you're probably old enough for this talk. Back to the point. These letters serve to explain to you why your parents died; what you are; and you who your family truly is. I think that you have always had a suspicion that you were more than what you seemed.

You weren't just Shawn's and Tania's boy, Lionel, You were my son too. Claire and my eldest son, and you have always been a light in our lives.

The numerous letters I've written are about your parents, about their graves, about where you came from. There's also a clause in my own will that no doubt has had your curiosity for the better part of the two years. Go see the family lawyer, he'll bequeath what I had delayed until now--a billion dollars for the sole purpose of tracking down and finding your past. No worries, there's another ten billion for when you finally come back from the journey. Of course, son, don't splurge it all in one place. Ration it, the journey won't be easy. 

  
Also in the box is a necklace, an ornate chess piece, in the shape of a knight.

I want you to take it along on your journey. Mr. Rohsu would have the rest of the series of letters. You know how close our family's been with the Rohsus for years. He'll push you in the right direction.

Take care of your Mom, and make sure Annabelle and Theodore aren't being stupid with their investments. Your Mom's getting on in age, make sure she gets her medication regularly. Annabelle's also prone to investing into any Tom, Dick or Harry with a spiel about 'saving the world'. Theodore, that fool loves war too much. Make sure you watch over them, Lionel.

  
I wish you luck, Leo.

I hope my own investigations over the years weren't for naught, and you eventually find your path.

And if you can't find your past, don't forget that you're not just a Phyko, you're a Lee.

 

Love, your father,

_Charles Ignatius Lee._

 

PS: Also, burn me a note or something when Kingdom Hearts 3.0 comes out. No seriously, fuck Nomura. He's 60, and I'll be damned if he ends up like George R.R Martin. 

 


	3. Starts with a step.

Lionel stared at the letter blankly, before looking up to his mother, Claire Lim. He stood up, and paced around the office of the geriatric family solicitor.

 

“I realise this news might not be enough to fully appease your own curiosities about your family, Leo.” Claire whispered.

 

Lionel stayed silent, stewing. He reread the letter again, and then he dug through the box, before his fingers found a golden chess piece attached to a chain of white silver and platinum.

 

“All my life, I wanted to find out my past, and why I lived a life as amazing as I was given by you and Papa, and he died before he even say one writ to me about my own past.”

 

Rohsu inhaled deeply, then exhaled audibly. He looked out the window.

 

“Your father and your mother spent the good part of your life, ensuring you would live a life as normal as possible, given the circumstances,” said Rohsu patiently.

 

“Where was I from?”

 

Claire shifted in her seat uncomfortably. She tried to put her hand on Lionel's shoulder, only for it to be shrugged off gently.

 

“Your father and I were close friends to your parents, who entrusted you to us before they left again.”

 

“But what were they?”

 

“We...don't know.”

 

Rohsu nodded.

 

“There's a reason why there's this crazy elaborate plan for you to find out for yourself. We believe that our own memories were wiped away by Charlie a long time ago, for some reason. We truly can't help past the fact that the chess piece you have in your hands is important.

 

“I believe that it isn't just me when I say that the golden knight in your hands feels familiar.”

 

He exhanged a look with Claire. Claire nodded in reply.

 

“Yes, that Knight...I've seen it somewhere before, but it feels like the memory's been blocked out totally.”

 

Lionel toyed with the chess piece in his hand, noticing that it felt strange to the touch. The surface of the gold felt cold to the touch, yet warm as well. Gold didn't feel like that, not usually. Theodore had given him a short lecture about the properties of gold materials once, when he wondered why Theodore needed so much gold for his project.

 

“So where do I go from here, Uncle Rohsu?” Lionel asked.

 

“First, we set you up with the first billion dollars that the good Charlie has bequeathed, and...he the box as well.”

 

The ancient man smiled through his wrinkles, and brought out a box from his desk's drawer. The box was the size of a small biscuit thin, black everywhere and had a screen at its top. Lionel noticed that it was a prototype of Theodore's Cigarette-Pal, the contraption he had seen two years prior.

 

“This is a box, invented by Charlie all those years ago. He had programmed it to dispense letters should a codeword be spoken into it. Observe.”

 

Rohsu placed the box right in front of him, pressed a button and spoke to it.

 

“Has a First Step,” he said clearly into the box.

 

The box whirled and beeped, before it finally spat a letter out. The letter was sealed neatly by the Lim family's seal, and the paper about it felt new. The letter was also encoded with a barcode on the sides. Lionel suspected that was also part of how the letter worked.

 

Rohsu passed the dispensed letter to Lionel.

 

“I suggest you go home and pack. Your journey itself will be long, kid.”

 

Lionel nodded.

 

He wore the chess piece around his neck, and took the Letter Dispenser from the table, and walked out the room with Claire.

 

 

 


End file.
